


Deity Of Choice

by eena



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-04-19
Updated: 2007-04-19
Packaged: 2019-02-05 17:24:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12798918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eena/pseuds/eena
Summary: The Scoobies stumble upon a buried tomb with some very interesting prisoners . . .





	1. Chapter 0  Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Haven, the archivist: This story was originally archived at [Fandom Haven Story Archive (FHSA)](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Fandom_Haven_Story_Archive), was scheduled to shut down at the end of 2016. To preserve the archive, I began working with the OTW to transfer the stories to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. If you are this creator and the work hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Fandom Haven Story Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/fhsa/profile).

  
Author's notes: This takes place several years after the S7 finale.  


* * *

"'Come on kids, it'll be fun. How often does an opportunity like this come up?' You know what? When we get out of here, I'm killing Giles."

 

Willow Rosenburg nodded her in agreement, wincing slightly as she moved her arm a bit. She had taken quite a fall, luckily not breaking a single bone in her body. But she wasn't feeling too lucky right now. Nope, right now she felt anything but lucky.

 

"We should have let Faith kick him into the crater formerly known as Sunnydale," the redhead muttered darkly, squinting in the dark to find her friends. "Are you guys all right?"

 

"I'm fine," came the reply from Buffy Summers. Willow heard some shifting before the barest touch of a hand brushed her arm. Buffy patted her arm, as if verifying it was her, and then gripping it a bit tighter.

 

"You okay?" the blonde asked, inching closer so that Willow could eventually make out her outline in the dark. The redhead nodded briefly, craning her neck a bit to try and locate the last member of their party.

 

"Xander?" she called out hesitantly. There was a brief silence, broken by a heavy sigh from one Alexander Harris.

 

"Yeah Wills?" was the reply.

 

"Are you okay?" she ventured, gripping Buffy's hand tightly as she waited on his answer. There was another brief pause before more shifting could be heard. A groping hand hit the small of her back and then pressed itself flat against her spine. Gripping her shirt a bit, Xander was able to crawl his way to his friends, dropping heavily behind Willow and resting his head on her shoulder.

 

"I think I broke my ass," he finally replied. Buffy let out a snort, trying to cover it up at the last second so as to add as squeak to it.

 

"Thanks for finding my pain amusing Buffy," Xander tossed back dryly. The man scooted closer to his friends, craning his neck to look around them.

 

"How far did we fall?" he muttered, staring straight up and seeing no source of light.

 

"I don't know," Willow answered softly. "We fell quite a bit, but I don't it was that far. Otherwise one of us would have broken something."

 

"Well, you or me would have," Xander corrected her. "I bet Buffy here landed on her feet."

 

"Don't hate me because I'm superhuman," was the return quip. "By the way, does anyone still have their backpack? We could use some light in here."

 

There was some shifting behind her, letting Willow know that Xander was fumbling to find his own. Willow herself nudged Buffy in the direction of her bag, knowing the blonde had taken hers off before they had fallen through the rather sudden hole in the floor.

 

"Why did we let Giles convince us that tomb touring was fun?" Xander grumbled from somewhere behind her. Buffy didn't reply, giving only a sharp yell of triumph as she pulled a flashlight out of Willow's bag. She snapped the device on quickly, momentarily blinding her redheaded friend by aiming it in her direction.

 

"Sorry," the blonde looked chastised as she lowered the beam. Buffy turned a bit, turning the flashlight on Xander, aiming it at where his bag lay. Xander gave her a quick thanks, grabbing his bag and wandering back to his friends. He pulled out another flashlight, much bigger than the handheld one in Willow's bag, and directed it at the ceiling.

 

"Holy shit we fell far," he exclaimed, face frowning as he looked up at the hole in the ceiling.

 

"Um guys?" Willow called for their attention. "How are we getting out of here?"

 

"Well, Giles did say that all the corridors in this place lead to some sort of stairs that will take us to the exit," Buffy reminded them. "I say we find it."

 

"But these corridors were built in a maze," Willow sighed. "It'll take forever for us to get out."

 

"Can't we just follow the signs?" Xander asked. Willow frowned at her friend.

 

"What signs?"

 

Xander moved his flashlight, turning it onto the walls around them. All over the walls were intricate symbols and pictures, all in the ancient Greek that Giles had tried to teach her once upon a time.

 

"Oh wow," Buffy breathed softly. Her blue eyes skipped over the images on the walls, an appreciative whistle coming from her lips.

 

"This is kind of cool," she admitted. "It would be more cool if we hadn't fallen a couple of floors to get here, but its still cool."

 

"Do you suppose this is what Giles was talking about?" Willow asked, getting to her feet slowly. "I mean, he did say something about a secret being buried in this tomb."

 

"Knowing our luck, it'd probably be some sort of dragon or demon," Xander shook his head. "Man, let's get out of here before something else goes wrong."

 

"Can you read it Willow?" Buffy pressed gently. Willow sighed, giving a weak shrug of her shoulders.

 

"Kind of," she muttered, squinting at the symbols on the wall. "It either says 'Go that way' or 'Stay the hell away from there'."

 

"That's helpful," Xander murmured. Willow gave a tiny smile, linking her arm through Buffy's.

 

"Well, we have the Slayer here with us," she reminded her friends. "And it there is something hostile over there, I think Buffy would be able to handle it."

 

"I second that," the blonde grinned. "Besides, what other options do we have? Stay here yelling our lungs out until Giles finds us?"

 

Xander made a face before heaving a defeated sigh.

 

"All right. Then I guess we go that way."

 

*****


	2. Chapter 1  Reawakening Ancient Powers: The Scooby Way

The paper held magic in it, right down to the very last fiber. She could feel it as she unrolled the scroll, eyes skimming over the foreign letters dotting the page. She kept unrolling, her eyes full of awe as she unveiled the whole thing, a work of art and magic all in one. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

 

"It's just a piece of paper. You can't even read it."

 

Willow sighed, dropping the scroll back onto the stone slab she had picked it up from. Buffy's rather intrusive but accurate statement had spoiled the moment of her discovery, leading the redhead to stumble headfirst back into the situation at hand.

 

They were still stuck in the damn tomb.

 

"You think Giles would have found us by now," the redhead muttered unhappily, letting her eyes travel over the cavern that Xander had stumbled upon mere minutes before. Xander snorted at her statement, looking up from the ruins of the statue he had been examining.

 

"We're lucky if Giles has even noticed we're missing yet," the man rolled his eyes in disgust. "He's like some sort of over-excited kid when it comes to this place. I bet he hasn't even registered that we haven't come back yet."

 

"Give the guy a bit more credit," Buffy interrupted, turning to look at her friend. "I mean, he has to have noticed by now. He's a Watcher, his whole purpose in life is to watch and notice things like this."

 

"And yet we're still lost in the very large tomb," Xander retorted, his face exasperated. "I mean, this was his idea. He should be the one lost in here, not us. I didn't even want to come. I wanted to sleep for a month, but no! Giles has to take us on some educational field trip-even though we got out of high school about five years ago!"

 

"Xander, just try to calm down," Willow advised her friend. "We are all well aware that the present situation sucks. You don't have to keep reminding us."

 

"But that's the only thing that's keeping me sane in all this," Xander replied, heaving a big dramatic sigh. "But for you Wills, I'll try to shut up."

 

"For Wills?" Buffy repeated, a mock-hurtful expression on her features. "See? I always told you that he loved you more than me."

 

"What can I say?" Willow shrugged, a small smile on her lips. "Guys just love me. It's the Willowy charms, a blessing and a curse at the same time."

 

"And now that we're done joking around, how about we try to get out of here?" Xander suggested.

 

"Because that's worked so well for us so far?" Buffy rolled her eyes. "Face it, we're lost. And the more we move around, the more lost we get. We're not getting out of here without some help."

 

"I'm telling you that those funky pictures on the walls are directions!" Xander insisted, turning his flashlight on the walls once more. "We just have to figure out what they mean. Wills, can't you do some sort of mojo to translate it?"

 

"I don't know," Willow answered, her tone very hesitant. "I mean, I couldn't guarantee that it would work. Besides, there's already some serious magic working on this place. What if my magic collides with it? I might just end up blowing something up."

 

"What a way to have confidence," Buffy grinned, shaking her head at her friend. "Must I remind you that you are the most powerful witch in existence? You did rewrite history when you activated every Slayer on the surface of the Earth."

 

"Yeah Wills," Xander jumped in. "You're like the mad-Wicca-momma. If anyone can do it, you can."

 

"Fine," Willow huffed, mouth setting in a thin line. "I can try it. And Xander, don't ever call me that again."

 

Xander just responded with a lopsided grin before squeezing her shoulder in reassurance. Buffy patted her arm once before moving back with Xander so that Willow could work her magic. The redhead could hear them moving around behind her, picking up random artifacts and poking at various crumbling structures. This room Xander had stumbled upon was just chalk full of stuff. Giles would probably die a happy death if he could just get one look at this place. The scrolls she had found were a large find in themselves. All the other things in here must be a fortune.

 

But Giles would probably never find this place unless they led him down here. And for them to do that, they first had to find their way out of here. And that meant Willow had to do some magic.

 

She closed her eyes, mentally reviewing all the spells she knew until she came upon one that would suffice in this situation. Taking a deep breath, the redhead placed her palms on the stone slab in front of her. She chanted the spell in a low tones, words being spoken under her breath. She felt the power grow inside her before the spell was even complete, spreading from her head to her feet. When she opened her eyes, she could tell that the spell had been successful.

 

Because once she opened her eyes, she looked down at the scroll she had unwittingly placed her hand on during the spell. The scroll seemed to glow for a second before the letters almost rearranged and transformed themselves right on the page.

 

With bated breath, Willow watched as the letters fixed themselves into proper English letters, finally revealing to her their meaning.

 

"Wow," the redhead breathed. "Can you guys see this?"

 

"See what?" Xander asked, coming to gaze over Willow's shoulder. "It's the same as before. Foreign."

 

"Why?" Buffy asked, joining her two friends. "What should we be seeing?"

 

"Well, I'm seeing the translation," Willow replied. "The whole thing is readable now."

 

"Good," Xander grinned, clapping his friend on the back in celebration. "So get to reading the walls, maybe we can get ourselves the hell out of wherever here is."

 

Willow nodded, barely acknowledging her friends' departure. She could hear them in the background, voices hushed with awe as they stumbled upon something or the other. She could tell just by the way Buffy spoke that whatever they found had to be amazing-and probably a weapon. Slayers were very into weapons.

 

But the redhead paid no real attention to what they were doing. Instead, her eyes focused on the walls and the strange drawings there. Just like with the scroll, Willow watched as the letters began to rearrange and change so that she could understand them. A small, triumphant smile lit her face when she looked upon the answers to most of their questions.

 

"'Beware all that trepass'," the redhead read aloud, not checking to see if Buffy and Xander were paying her any sort of attention. "'The tomb holds awesome forces of hate and love, all of which the world is not ready for. Beware'."

 

Willow arched an eyebrow, muttering to herself under her breath.

 

"That's encouraging."

 

She shook her head, turning to face the other walls, watching as the letters again adjusted to her benefit. The redhead frowned, picking up on the urgency of the warning there.

 

"Um guys, you have to be careful," Willow called out to her friends. "This wall is saying something about resting forces that should not be awakened. I'm guessing they are not of the good, so we should avoid awakening anything."

 

"And we do that how?" Xander tossed back, sounding a bit distracted. Willow shrugged, reading the rest of the warning before starting to search for her friends.

 

"It says we'll be fine as long as the two pieces of the chakram are kept apart and not joined by the descendant of some person named Xena," the redhead explained, eyes straining to find her friends in the dark. "It's pretty easy to recognize apparently. It's like this circle thing in two separate parts . . ."

 

Her voice trailed off as she found her friends. Buffy and Xander looked over at her, guilt written all over their faces. But Willow didn't have time to acknowledge that, or them for that matter. The only things she saw was the massive statue behind them that was supposed to be holding the two separate parts of the chakram and then down to her friend's hand, holding the two pieces of the chakram together.

 

"It's okay," she started with only a tinge of panic in her voice. "I mean, it says the descendant of this Xena person. And how likely is it that one of you could be the descendant of-"

 

Her final words were cut off when a bright light starting coming from the chakram. Spellbound, all three friends watched as the split in the weapon was patched up, a thin line of light melding it back together. Xander and Buffy exchanged bewildered looks before turning to Willow for an explanation. But the redhead had none, looking slightly panicked as she looked at the restored chakram.

 

"Now you've done it," the redhead whispered faintly.

 

And that's when everything started to go to hell.

 

Willow could barely catch herself when the room began shaking. Buffy and Xander jerked their heads upwards, watching the ceiling of the cavern shake with considerable force. There was dust falling on top of them, clouding their vision just a bit. When rocks began to fall, both tried to make it to Willow but failed.

 

Instead, they ended up in one heap under a stone slab. Buffy waved at the dust in her face, trying to pick out a trace of Willow in the midst of it. Willow seemed to be fine, trying hard not to move too quickly as she ventured for cover. But the ground started shaking more violently than before and Willow was thrown back, landing hard on the lap of a stone statue.

 

Giving up on trying to move, the redhead curled up on the statue, covering her head with her hands and willing the shaking to stop.

 

And it did, after a few more minutes. Shocked and shaken, Buffy and Xander climbed out from under their shelter, neither noticing that they both still held onto the chakram with one hand each. Both were more occupied with trying to locate Willow.

 

Willow gave one pitiful cough, alerting her friends to her location. As they made their way over Willow tried to move her limbs a bit. She shifted on the stone statue, idley wondering why it didn't feel so hard anymore.

 

"Um Wills?"

 

She turned her head upwards at Xander's call, seeing his rather shocked expression. Buffy stood next to him, the same look to her own face as they stared at Willow.

 

No, correction, they stared at something behind Willow. The redhead was confused by their attention, freezing instantly when she felt the statue move underneath her.

 

Willow held her breath, turning around so she could face the statue, or what had been a statue before. She didn't find the stone chiseled features of a man like before. No, she saw the golden-tanned skin of a youthful man with platinum blonde hair and dancing brown eyes. A smirk curved perfect pink lips and a finger came up to brush a strand of hair from her face.

 

"My, what a wonderful way to wake up."

 

*****


	3. Chapter 2  Meet The Family

She was sitting on the lap of a very handsome, and apparently very flirtatious, young man. And despite the fact that he was all kinds of yummy, Willow didn’t want to be on his lap. You see, he hadn’t been there two seconds ago and just by looking at him the redhead could tell this was no ordinary human.

 

In fact, this wasn’t a human period.

 

But he kept her in place, a hand on her left thigh that held her in place with very little effort. She tried to move against it, but it did her no good. He just gripped her thigh a bit, squeezing his arm around her body and basically cutting off any chance for her to escape.

 

“Hey! Hands off my Willow!”

 

Well, Xander seems to have gotten over his shock. And headed right onto his indignation. Willow turned to face her friend, seeing the hostility brewing in his eyes. It was mingling along just great with the fear there as well.

 

“Your Willow?” the man repeated, his tone teasing as he looked at the redhead on his lap. “Well, that can be changed very easily.”

 

“Okay, enough,” Buffy stepped forward, grapping Willow by the arm and attempting to pull her up and off the lap of the young man. But he held on, stalling Buffy’s process. Willow gave a minor squeak of alarm, eyes silently pleading with Buffy not to rip her in half in some impromptu tug-of-Willow war.

 

The redhead watched Buffy’s eyes narrow dangerously before turning to the young man with apprehension in her voice.

 

“You should really let go,” Willow advised him, nervously licking her suddenly dry lips. “She’s starting to get kind of mad.”

 

“And that’s supposed to make me uneasy?” he returned, eyes twinkling in amusement. Willow sighed, giving him an ‘I-warned-you’ look. With a bit of a chuckle, Willow watched as Buffy grabbed hold of the arm restraining Willow and pried it off the redhead. The young man seemed mildly impressed as she did this, amusedly watching Willow beat a hasty retreat as soon as she was free. He shot her a disappointed pout that left her blushing. Xander gathered her up in his arms as soon as she got close enough, trying to hide her from his view. Willow wasn’t about to argue.

 

“You’re strong,” the young man told Buffy, though his eyes never left Willow’s form. This only served to make Buffy snort and Xander shake with barely suppressed rage. The young man smirked, briefly taking his eyes off Willow as he rose up out of his seat and sent Buffy teetering back a few steps. He seemed to think this made a point, actually trying to move in Willow’s direction once more.

 

Buffy would have none of that. The blonde Slayer recovered quickly from her slight shock, immediately going into an offensive step. As soon as she saw him heading back towards her friends, Buffy launched herself at him. Using Xander’s shoulder was a boost, Buffy propelled herself at the young man, lashing out with her foot and delivering a might kick to his chest. The force of the blow sent the young man flying off his feet and crashing into the cavern wall behind him.

 

“That’ll show you,” Buffy muttered gleefully, wiping her hands in a mock-cleaning fashion before turning to smile brightly at her friends. But neither returned her cheerful look, still captivated in horror by what was going on behind her. Buffy turned hesitantly, watching as the young man got to his feet, more or less in perfect condition.

 

He got to his feet, brushing some dust off his chest and shoulders. Willow took the moment to realize that he was only wearing a pair of sinfully tight leather pants. Other than that, there was no shirt that she could see, though he was wearing a large black cloak pushed back to his shoulders. He was all nice and muscle-y. Which did nothing for her.

 

Yeah right.

 

“OW!” the young man wailed, the smirk on his face undermining the outrage in his tone. “That hurt! Mommy! Daddy! Come see how the little girl hurt me!”

 

“He’s mocking me,” Buffy stated unhappily. “I hate it when the baddies mock me. It makes me want to do violence to them. Well, MORE violence to them.”

 

“You’ve got my vote for it Buff,” Xander muttered, fixing the young man with a glare. “Slay his leather-clad butt.”

 

“Now, if that delightful little flower is yours, why would you be noticing my leather-clad butt?”

 

Willow gave a slight eep when she felt Xander try to spring forward. She held onto her friend tightly, trying to keep him from doing something entirely too stupid.

 

“Not human!” she hissed at Xander. “Not human at all! Let Buffy kick his ass.”

 

Xander made a face, shooting Buffy a sour look.

 

“You superheroes have all the fun.”

 

Buffy rolled her eyes good-naturedly before dropping into a defensive stance. A sneer touched the lips of the Slayer and she beckoned for the man to venture forward.

 

“You know what they say, if at first you don’t succeed . . .” Buffy shot him an evil grin. “So come here and let me kick your ass all over this tomb.”

 

He just smirked, actually not rising to the bait. Instead, he leaned back against the cavern wall, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched all three of them. Willow twitched a bit, not liking the way he was just standing there. Like he was waiting on something. It wasn’t Buffy, that’s for sure. The blonde certainly wasn’t stupid to jump into a fight with such a strong creature she knew nothing about. But if he tried to push the matter, he would find his ass being handed over to him courtesy of the Vampire Slayer.

 

But he didn’t do a thing. Instead he just waited, turning his head to the other side of the cavern when a slight rustle could be heard coming from the corner.

 

“What took you so long?” the young man asked, his tone heavy with teasing. “Getting too old to move quickly?”

 

“Shut your trap, brat,” was the response. Buffy jumped, eyes going to watch the emergence of another man from the shadows. This one was admittedly older than the other man, but not that much. He seemed to enjoy the black leather apparel just like the other man, but that’s where the similarities ended. While the young man was fair, the lightness of his hair almost creating a halo over his head, this man was all dark. His hair was black and his eyes a stormy brown colour. And whatever the young man was, this man was definitely as powerful.

 

Xander leaned forward, passing the chakram, the only weapon they had, into Buffy’s hand. The blonde accepted it, not sure how to use the damn thing but knowing she would give it her best shot should she have to.

 

The other man’s eyes fell on the three humans in the cavern with them. A smirk tilted his lips, much like the young man was prone to doing. But while the young man’s smirk was taunting, this man’s smirk was downright dangerous. Buffy almost wanted to back up at the sight of it.

 

Almost, but not quite.

 

“Which one?” he asked the younger man. The young man rolled his eyes, pushing himself off the wall and making his way over to the other man.

 

“Really Dad, can’t you ever think of anything else?” the young man shook his head. “I mean, the same obsession over so many centuries. It never got you anywhere with her, why would her descendent be any different? Come on, move onto something different. But not the redhead. I call her.”

 

“You ‘call’ me?” Willow repeated, becoming quite offended. “How dare you just assume to come in here and-how are you getting in here?”

 

“Simple,” the older man grinned maliciously. “We were here to begin with. Now Cupid, which one?”

 

“Did he just say Cupid?” Buffy demanded, looking to Willow for verification. The redhead nodded, uncertain herself about what to do with that. Xander made a protesting noise.

 

“No way!” he declared. “I mean, he’s no baby. And there’s no diaper that I can see. Unless it’s one of those adult bladder problems or something.”

 

“Xander, shut up,” Willow hissed when both men turned their eyes on her friend. And they didn’t exactly look too pleased with Xander at the moment. The redhead cleared her throat nervously, stepping away from Xander and just behind Buffy.

 

“If that’s Cupid, I guess that makes you Mars,” Willow started hesitantly. Buffy frowned, shooting her friend a look.

 

“He’s a planet?” the blonde asked, confusion evident in her tone. Willow shook her head.

 

“Mars is the Roman God of War,” the redhead explained quickly. “And Cupid is his son. I was just playing along with whatever game these guys were playing.”

 

“What makes you think we’re playing?” the young man claiming to be Cupid asked. “How do you know we’re not telling the truth? And by the way, he prefers Ares to Mars.”

 

“Okay, this is not happening,” Xander stated slowly and surely. “I mean, this is ridiculous, and it is not happening. I say it’s not happening, so it’s not happening! We’ve already dealt with whacked out deities. I refuse to go through that again.”

 

“Which deities?” Cupid asked in curiosity. Ares ignored all this, his dark eyes falling on the chakram in Buffy’s hand. Another smirk graced his features as he looked at Buffy appreciatively.

 

“Thank the Fates,” he murmured with glee. “I swear, beauty must run in the family.”

 

“What is he talking about?” Buffy hissed at Willow. The redhead shrugged her shoulders, looking absolutely lost for the moment. Buffy turned back to Ares, a frown on her features.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but if you don’t stop it, I’ll kick your butt from here to Timbuktu.”

 

Ares tossed back his head and roared with laughter.

 

“It has to be her!” he declared to Cupid. “She’s almost exactly the same!”

 

“Except blonde, short, and very petite,” Cupid rolled his eyes. “As opposed to brunette, tall, and very buff.”

 

“I’m buff,” Buffy protested, her voice unwillingly taking on an offended and hurt tone. Xander nodded encouragingly, giving her a thumbs-up sign.

 

“You’re the buffest Buffy,” he assured his friend. “But we digress. Willow, read the walls quickly and tell us how to get away from the crazy guys here. I’m not liking this vacation anymore.”

 

“Aw, cheer up Sugar. Things are starting to go your way.”

 

Xander started at the voice that came from behind him. Very hurriedly the young man turned around, hands in a defensive mode as he sought the source of the voice. The source turned out to be a buxom blonde dressed in a pink bikini with very see-through veils covering the rest of her. Curly blonde hair fell down the woman’s back and blue eyes twinkled with mischief. Xander felt his mouth drop open and stay that way. The woman giggled delightedly at his reaction.

 

“I still got it,” she declared happily, traipsing past Xander and the girls before making her way over to Ares and Cupid. She ignored Buffy’s glaring and attempts to defend Xander from her. She smiled brightly for both deities, giving Cupid a motherly peck on the cheek and Ares a snort signifying that she was not impressed. She turned back to the humans, another dazzling smile shot their way.

 

“I’m Aphrodite. How’s it going?”

 

Xander shook his head, leaning his head against Willow’s shoulder.

 

“I think I’m getting a very big migraine,” he muttered before raising his head to glare at the supposed gods on the other side of the cavern. “You are not Greek gods. Did you not hear me before? You are not allowed to be Greek gods. You are not Aphrodite, you are not Ares, and you sure as hell aren’t Cupid!”

 

The three ethereal beings exchanged looks. Buffy watched them all apprehensively, starting a bit when Cupid moved forward a bit. The blonde shot her a smirk before reaching up to shrug off his cloak. The material hit the floor, but that wasn’t even penetrating at the moment.

 

The only thing any human registered were the wings that seemed to sprout from between the man’s shoulder blades. Willow opened her mouth, trying to say something but nothing but shocked gurgles coming out. Cupid grinned at her amazement, tossing her a wink.

 

“Remind me to take you flying sometime.”

 

“Oh no you won’t,” Buffy interrupted. She stepped between her friends and the gods, her chin jutting out stubbornly.

 

“We’re leaving, and you’re not stopping us,” she told them evenly. “And if you do try, I will kick your asses, gods or not.”

 

“Reminds me of . . .”

 

“Don’t say it,” Cupid cut off his mother. “It’s just going to encourage Dad. You know how he gets about HER.”

 

“It’s damn sickening.”

 

This time the voice came from the same corner of the room that Ares had come from. Xander groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

 

“How many more?” he wailed. Willow shrugged helplessly, watching as the short woman in a short black leather skirt emerged from the shadows. She had a definite Goth look to her, one that was in complete contradiction to Aphrodite, though she was no less beautiful. Ares rolled his eyes, gesturing to the new arrival with a flippant wave of his hand.

 

“Meet my sister Discord.”

 

*****


	4. Chapter 3  The Love Bite or Love Bites!

They just had to stay distracted.

 

That’s all that Willow needed. She just needed for Buffy and Xander to keep all these crazy deities distracted so she could finish reading what was on the walls and then possibly put everything back to normal.

 

However, the walls didn’t have any instructions on how to deal with the newly gods, only warnings against releasing them in the first place. Willow gritted her teeth together in mild irritation. What was the point of reading all this stuff if it wasn’t going to helpful in the least? Not even a simple ‘exit this way’ written anywhere.

 

“God, look at their clothes. Is this what the great race of man has come to? Zeus would be so disappointed.”

 

Willow tuned back into the conversation going on. It was that Discord chick who had spoken. She was regarding Buffy with a mixture of loathing and what Willow swore looked like envy. Maybe that had something to do with her brother’s fixation on the blonde. Ares kept giving Buffy the one over and winking at her. Willow wondered how much longer the Slayer would last before she would hit that one. Granted they knew it wouldn’t have much effect on them, but it might make Buffy feel a bit better.

 

“I don’t know,” Aphrodite mused, suddenly appearing right to the left of Xander causing the man to jump and squeal in shock. Aphrodite laughed delightfully for a second before her eyes took on a predatory look. She ran her hand down his arm, smiling seductively at the young man.

 

“They’re making the boys just as good as before,” the goddess purred, causing Xander to blush a deep red colour. “If not better than before.”

 

“Okay, back off Goddess of Skank!” Buffy barked, grabbing Xander and shoving him behind her and far away from Aphrodite. “I’m sensing that you’re all a grabby bunch, so I’m only saying this one more time. Hands off my friends! And as for you, Miss Mini-Dominatrix, at least I know what colours are. You know I’ve seen vampires who dress better, and more coordinated then you.”

 

“Buffy, maybe we shouldn’t tease the gods,” Willow whispered nervously to her friend as Discord turned a violent shade of purple.

 

“Why you little maggot-”

 

“Down girl,” Buffy lifted the chakram threateningly. “Don’t make me use this thing.”

 

Especially since she didn’t know how to use it. Willow looked on in mild despair as her best friend faced off against the four gods in front of her. Cupid and Ares were staying surprisingly silent throughout this entire exchange while Aphrodite was still pouting over the ’Goddess of Skank’ barb Buffy had slung her way. Discord was actually backing off, looking at the chakram in Buffy’s hand with some caution in her eyes. That was interesting; Willow made a note of it.

 

But that wasn’t helping with their current situation. They couldn’t stay in this stand off forever. Willow had to find a way to get her and her friends the hell out of here and fast.

 

She just didn’t trust these gods.

 

*****

 

Buffy was a bit surprised when the Gothic chick began to back off every so slightly. She dared a quick glance at the round weapon thing in her hand, what did Willow call it? A shamrock? A chuck-ram? Who cares. All that Buffy needed to know was that the round thing was kind scaring the gods. And scared she could work with.

 

“This is ridiculous,” Cupid announced. “It’s not like she knows how to use the damn thing. It’s been locked up here with us for centuries.”

 

“It’s in her blood,” Ares retorted, a pleased smile on his face. “She’ll know how to use it.”

 

“Buff, that guy with all his smirking and winking is starting to freak me out,” Xander whispered to his friend. “Is he hitting on you?”

 

Buffy shrugged, her eyes never leaving those of Discord. The petite raven-haired goddess was pacing right before her, obviously looking for some sort of opening. The girl seemed intent on fighting, which was just fine with this Slayer. She was starting to get fed up with these guys.

 

Cupid rolled his eyes at the pending catfight, turning his attention to the surrounding cavern. Buffy watched out of the corner of her eye as the God of Love started rummaging through some of the statues and artefacts that littered the cavern floor. She was a bit startled when he gave a triumphant shout, emerging from the shadows with a loaded crossbow in his hand.

 

“Oh, I am not liking this a lot,” Xander murmured, backing away from the God and taking a position at Buffy’s side. “We should get out of here before the rest of them-”

 

“Here’s my sword!” Ares crowed, lifting a broadsword high above his head. Buffy looked at it with a bit of envy in her eyes. It looked like a sweet sword.

 

“Cupid, this is not the time for that,” Discord growled. “By Zeus! You’ve been awake for under an hour and you’re already back into your old habits.”

 

“I haven’t hit anyone with one yet,” Cupid returned, scowling at the little goddess. “Besides, it’s perfectly all right to have focus in your life. I do have a job to do-”

 

“Please!” Discord snorted. “The world has carried on without you and your little interventions while we were imprisoned. I doubt you’ll be all that needed nowadays.”

 

“We’ll see about that,” Cupid returned stuffily. He lifted up his crossbow, turning it from side to side with a frown on his face. Muttering something about rust and bad storage spaces, the god lowered his weapon and began to rub it furiously with the end of his cloak. Buffy decided to ignore him for the time being, her eyes falling back on the sword toting God of War in the background. He caught her stare and winked at her.

 

“A whole new world out there,” he murmured. “And so many new toys to play with! I’m having good feelings about this bomb creation of mankind’s. This world and I are going to get along just fine.”

 

“This world has enough problems with war without you sticking your nose into it,” Aphrodite corrected him. “Are you forgetting why Gabby put us in here in the first place? You were getting reckless and inciting more trouble than was needed-”

 

“I was not!”

 

“You were too,” Discord countered with a roll of her eyes. “You were pissed

off that your precious Xena as gone forever and then decided to wreak havoc across the world. Now, I’m not usually opposed to stuff like that, but since it got us stuck in this place for so damn long, I’m going to side with Blondie on this one.”

 

“They’re immortal and nuts,” Xander whispered to Buffy. “You think insanity is some sort of requirement before you can become a god or something?”

 

Buffy swallowed a giggle, giving Xander a bit of a reprimanding look. She was trying to hold up a defence while Willow figured out how to fix their current situation. She didn’t need Xander being cute and making her laugh. That might get them killed.

 

Xander understood her expression at once, making a zipping motion on his lips before backing off a step or two. Buffy was already focused on the gods again, watching as Aphrodite, Discord, and Ares were embroiled in one really immature fight. She could only arch her eyebrow at them. Immortal and still so childish. No wonder they got locked up in here.

 

Buffy dared a glance behind her, seeing that Willow had descended on those paper thingies that she had been really excited about before. The redhead was looking through them rapidly, obviously not finding anything of real use. And then she stumbled onto another hidden drawer, seeing it fill to the brim with scrolls.

 

The redhead slumped in defeat and Buffy felt for her. There was no way Willow was going to have the time to go through all those right now. The redhead seemed to be intent on reading them anyhow. She had found Xander’s backpack and was slowly filling it with the scrolls. Buffy fought the urge to roll her eyes. She was facing off a quartet of ancient gods and Willow was gathering reading material.

 

There was something inherently wrong with that.

 

She heard the click of the bow before she even heard Cupid speak. It sounded like a curse, whatever he said. Buffy didn’t notice, instead turning around and lashing out with her hand. Relying solely on her senses, Buffy grabbed the arrow out of the air seconds before it would have plunged into Xander’s chest. She flinched a bit when she felt the arrow’s sharp edge nick the inside of her palm, but she kept her hold on the arrow.

 

Right until it disappeared out of her hand.

 

She fell forward just a bit, her hand immediately going to her temple. The Slayer felt a flash of something wash right over her, causing her head to pound momentarily. She heard Xander cursing and Willow rushing to her side, screaming something in the direction of the gathered gods.

 

Shaking off whatever had gotten into her, Buffy looked up and right into Xander’s concerned brown eyes. Something clicked right then and there and the Slayer let a dreamy smile cross her features.

 

“I love you Xander Harris.”

 

*****

 

“Love you too Buff.”

 

Xander looked a bit uncertainly at his best friend. She was giving him this smile that made him kind of worried. Was Buffy okay? After all, she had caught the arrow. It wasn’t like she took a blow to the head or something. So why was she acting so funky?

 

He turned his head, noticing the amused faces of Discord and Aphrodite, the belligerent look on Ares’s face, and finally the guilty expression of Cupid. Xander looked down at the crossbow the blonde god held in his hands and faltered.

 

“Oh, you didn’t.”

 

Cupid just shrugged his shoulders helplessly. Xander looked back down at Buffy, noticing the way the Slayer kept moving closer and closer to him. Xander cursed a bit, wondering if he could back away without her taking offence. Women under love spells tended to be a bit unpredictable.

 

“Fix it!” he yelled at the god. But Cupid seemed to be enjoying himself at this point and he denied Xander’s request. Willow stood uncertainly between the gods and her friends, not knowing what to do or who to do it to.

 

Only when she heard the distant cries shouting their names did she relax. Giles had finally come looking for them. Great. Wonderful.

 

Maybe the Watcher could fix this giant mess because Willow was just plain

lost.

 

*****


	5. Chapter 4  Lose A Few, Lose Some More

"I know the situation is grave but there is no need for that kind of language."

 

Giles sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as Faith decided to take offence to his rather light reprimand. There was some colourful words spilling from her lips and Giles was just glad that they hadn't returned to LA just yet. He definitely didn't want to be around Faith when she was in such a mood. And to think, she actually thought this was somehow his fault.

 

Just because he suggested the trip and dragged Buffy, Xander, and Willow to an ancient tomb that all reports said reeked of old and dangerous magicks.

 

Really, how could she think this was his fault.

 

"Giles? Giles, are you still there?"

 

"Hmm?" Giles murmured, remembering the phone in his hand. "Oh, are you finished now? I had drifted off for a bit there."

 

"Giles . . ."

 

Now there was a tone he was familiar with. Funny, he hadn't been on the receiving end of that tone since his college days. Usually it was him sounding so disapproving and frustrated. It was almost gratifying to know that now he could return the favour on one of the very person who caused him to use that tone so often.

 

"When are you guys coming back?" Faith demanded. Giles sighed and looked to the day planner sitting on the table next to the phone. The house they were residing in was one of the oldest the Council had ever owned. It had never made it to headquarter status, but was always looked upon as one of the greatest retreats that the Council had to provide. It was nice to have a completely furnished room as opposed to some generic hotel room.

 

Of course he was going to have to leave the sanctuary of this lovely retreat and head on back to LA very soon. Back to a hotel full of young Slayers, budding Watchers, one vampire with a soul, one green demon with empathic abilities, and an assortment of other people who were probably just waiting to give him a headache.

 

But then again, considering the circumstances, they might be justified in that.

 

"Giles!"

 

Faith sounded as if she was very tired of his drifting. Giles shook himself, trying to find him bearing once more.

 

"We'll be back within three days," he finally responded. "Just getting our tickets updated. And very busy trying to think of ways to keep Buffy away from Xander."

 

"Having any luck with that?" Faith asked, a bit of amusement on her voice now. Giles gave another sigh, burying his head in his hands.

 

"Unfortunately no."

 

*****

 

Xander poked his head around the edge of his doorway, glancing up and down the hallway. It seemed pretty deserted. Maybe he was overreacting but he swore he had just heard some footsteps coming down towards his door.

 

But there was no one there. Maybe he was just being paranoid. After all, Buffy had not left his side since that debacle with Cupid in the tomb. And even after Giles found them and the Greek gods had decided to take off for parts unknown, the blonde Slayer did not leave his side. In fact, on the car ride back to their vacation house Buffy had tried to climb onto his lap and commence something very naughty.

 

That's when Willow finally consented and put a sleeping spell on her friend.

 

Xander cautiously eased his door shut, deciding to hit the hay once and for all. It had been a trying past two days. And not knowing where those four crazy Gods had gone off to hadn't helped matters. Especially since that Cupid idiot couldn't be found to undo whatever the hell he had done to Buffy.

 

He padded into his room, intent on making for his bed when two arms encircled him from behind. Xander gave a very unmanly squeal and tried to jump away from his captor, but they held on tight.

 

"Alone at last," Buffy purred into his ear. Xander felt his heartrate speed up and he finally managed to squirm his way out of Buffy's grip. Turning around, he had a flash back to junior year when Buffy was under the influence of his rather messed up love spell.

 

The blonde stood before him, giving him this 'come-hither' look that made him want to piss his pants. Was there any way he could call for help without offending Buffy to the point of her hurting him?

 

"Xander, I've been waiting to see you all day," Buffy drawled, stalking closer to him and actually causing him to fall backwards onto his bed. Xander yelped when Buffy climbed on top of him, straddling his waist and giving him a lustful look.

 

"Now Buffy, you need to think about this," he cautioned her, not even bothering to struggle. It wouldn't do him any good.

 

"Oh trust me," Buffy winked at him. "I've been thinking about this all day. Now, let's get rid of all these pesky clothes, shall we?"

 

"Buffy!" Xander used her momentary distraction with his shirt to throw her clear. "We can't do this!"

 

"Why not?" the blonde Slayer pouted, lying across his bed on her side.

 

"Because," Xander's mind raced to think up a good reason. "We need to wait."

 

"Wait for what?" she demanded, her tone becoming slightly angry. Xander gulped and thought fast. An idea came to him. A very stupid idea, but it might buy him some time.

 

"For marriage?" he suggested lightly. Buffy's eyes bugged.

 

"You want to get married?" the blonde asked, her eyes filling with happy tears. "Oh Xander . . ."

 

"Um, yup, marriage-city for us!" Xander agreed nervously. "But we have to take it slow, you know? Give other people some time to get used to the idea of it. I mean, how is Dawn going to handle this? It's going to take some time for adjustment. A lot of time."

 

"But not too much, right?" Buffy asked, her lower lip protruding just a bit. Xander gulped again, nodding for the time being.

 

"Not too much."

 

But deep inside, Xander knew that in reality, it wasn't going to be enough. Wait until he got his hands on that Cupid idiot.

 

He was going to shove that crossbow right up his immortal ass.

 

*****

 

Willow sat on her bed, looking at one of the scrolls spread out before her. Giles had been very excited at the find, even going so far as to order them by date. Whoever had written these things had done so meticulously, jotting down the date on each parchment. Of course, the dating system made no sense to her whatsoever, but Giles seemed to understand it.

 

They just might be the key to understanding exactly what had happened in that tomb to begin with. She wasn't so sure why those Gods had been trapped in there, but she knew her life had been much easier when they had been. So, back they go. Just as soon as Willow figured out how.

 

Which wasn't going to be easy. Though Giles could translate the scrolls, they were still talking very ancient magicks. Ancient magicks which the scrolls were basically dripping with. If she wanted to put those Gods back where they belong, she was going to have to understand that magick.

 

"Can't be much harder than the scythe," she muttered to herself. Hesitantly, the redhead reached out, placing her hand on the scroll in front of her. It amazed her that these scrolls had managed to stay so preserved over time. Another indication of the magick that surrounded them.

 

Willow closed her eyes and concentrated. The witch settled down, doing deep within herself and back down to the earth like she had been taught so long ago. Everything on the Earth was connected, and through that connection she was going to understand the secrets of these scrolls.

 

Willow relaxed and took another deep breath. She felt the magic of the scroll jump up and encircle her. It flooded all her senses, filling her nose, mouth, ears, and eyes with heavy stimuli. Too quickly the redhead felt herself being pulled. Willow opened her eyes and gasped.

 

In an instant, she saw.

 

*****


	6. Chapter 5  Way Back When . . .

  
Author's notes: I know that Xena killed most of the gods except for Dite and Ares, but I'm changing things a bit so that my four were the ones left alive.  


* * *

The water had calmed down, gently lapping up against the side of the ship. She could smell the salt in the water, still taste some of it on her lips where the last bit of spray had hit her. The sea was a fickle thing, sometimes calm sometimes stormy, and she was very glad that her journey by water had finally come to an end.

 

It had been months since she had last seen these shores. Months of travel and wandering, times that had been happy before the very last adventure she had embarked on. She went on that journey with her best friend. She returned on her own.

 

She shut her eyes, willing the tears to stay at bay. It still hurt, even now. Her death had been noble, both of them had made the right choice. But it still hurt. It probably would still hurt for many years to come. Xena had been her life for so long. She had been her family, her soulmate. They had been to Hades and back together. And now Gabrielle was coming home, with Xena's ashes.

 

Eve. She was going to have to find Eve. The woman would need to know of her mother's death. It might be hard to track her down. Eve and her followers travelled quite a bit. She should probably start off with the remnants of the Amazons. Eve had spent much time with them before, trying to atone for the things she had done to the Nation. The Nation that was now just a mere shadow of what it had been. So many deaths in such a short period of time. Gabrielle was starting to feel entirely too old.

 

"Maybe this is what happens to all warriors after a while," she murmured to herself. That could be true. Maybe this was a mere passing case of battle fatigue. She needed rest, she needed to go off somewhere and try to deal with her loss. Perhaps now was the perfect time to venture back to the Nation. As a Queen, she would be warmly accepted. Maybe it was time to go and lay down for a while.

 

"But not just yet," she muttered resignedly. She knew that, of course. There was no way she could rest just yet. She had to find people, to tell them of what happened. She needed to find Eve, to find Virgil. She might even need to seek out Ares, though she doubted that the story of Xena's death would be new to him. He probably felt her passing even more sharply than Gabrielle had. Ares had loved Xena for a very long time now, and kept an almost continuous watch on her. He would probably know already that Xena had died.

 

And she was willing to bet that he wasn't taking it all that well. Then again, this is Ares. Since when does he take anything that well? Both times in his long life that he had been forced mortality for no more than a few days had resulted in him going on a drinking binge to end all drinking binges. The God of War had very poor coping skills. She would be surprised if he hadn't torn up most of the countryside in the course of his grief.

 

She was going to have to talk to Aphrodite first. Maybe she would know what state of mind her brother was in, or how to deal with him. The Goddess of Love might be a flake for most of the time, but she had her moments. Gabrielle was hoping that she would have one of those moments in the near future. There was a storm coming, she knew it, she could feel it. And she wasn't so sure she could hold it back on her own.

 

*You'll be just fine.*

 

She shut her eyes, trying to hold onto the sound of that voice, whispering comfort in her ears. Even in death Xena wouldn't leave her to suffer on her own. She was still here, in spirit, watching over all she loved until the day they joined her in the afterlife.

 

*You need to move Gabrielle. The ship has been docked for hours. You have to go.*

 

Gabrielle sighed once more in resignation. She knew that Xena was right. She would have to move now. The ship had docked, she was home once more. She was going to have to get off and complete her duty. So many people to track down, so many things to tell . . .

 

"Maybe I should just head on back to Japa," she muttered dejectedly. There was the sound of light laughter in her ears before Gabrielle felt her slip away for a while. Xena must have decided that Gabrielle would be going no matter what. That was awfully presumptuous of her.

 

Even if she was right.

 

The blonde woman shook her head, running a hand through long blonde locks. Maybe she should cut her hair again. She hadn't given it much thought over the past while. But then again, she hadn't been giving much thought to anything other than Xena and her own return home for quite a few months now. In the end, her personal appearance could wait. There were things that needed to be done.

 

Gabrielle sighed once more, taking in a last lungful of sea air. Then she reached down, pulling the strap of her satchel over her shoulder while reaching for the urn that held Xena's ashes. She hugged the small container to herself for a brief moment, looking up towards the rising sun. She contemplated what the next few years might bring and wondered if she did have the energy for it. Xena wouldn't be there to help her like she usually was. There might be a few guiding words from her spirit, but in the end, it would be all up to Gabrielle. She just wasn't sure that she had it in her at the moment.

 

The blonde turned away from the sun, looking towards the harbour. People milled about on the docks, half of them merchants, half of them servants and regular people. She could hear the bubble of conversations floating her way. A small smile touched her lips as she heard her own language again, the first time in quite a few months. It made her feel just a bit warmer inside.

 

She was home.

 

For now, that would be enough to get her by.

 

*****

 

Willow let out a gasp, wrenching her hand off the scroll and scrambling up her bed away from it. The redhead drew in ragged breaths, wide green eyes on the parchment on the other end of the bed.

 

She had underestimated the amount of magic in the scrolls. That was unlike anything she had ever seen, beyond anything else that she had ever felt. Even with the scythe she hadn't felt this way. It had been all too real.

 

She could almost still smell the salty sea air, still feel the ship rocking idly while in port. She could feel the slight wind in her hair, the slight spray of water on her lips. The heat of the sun, the cold firmness of the urn, and the sounds of the people on the docks. It had been all too real. It was like she had been there herself. Like for that one moment in time, she had been this Gabrielle woman. Willow had lost herself for a moment and completely immersed herself in the psyche of this warrior from long ago.

 

"Whoa," she breathed in wonder, mustering up some courage to crawl back towards the scrolls on her bed. "That was intense."

 

"It sure was."

 

She shrieked, though the sound was quickly muffled by the hand that clamped itself over her mouth. The witch struggled with the intruder briefly, debatting whether or not to use her magic in this situation. And where the hell was Buffy? The Slayer should have been up and running the second she heard even the smallest fraction of that shriek Willow gave.

 

"You really need to calm down sweetheart. You're acting like I'm going to hurt you."

 

Willow stopped in her struggles, contemplating the familiar voice whispering in her ear. It took her a second to place it and then she was struggling once again.

 

"It's not like I'm going to hurt you," came the amused reply. "Just calm down and then we can talk like two mature adults."

 

Willow weighed her options. No Buffy, and even if there was, she doubted that the Slayer could do much to him. After their last meeting, it was quite evident that Buffy's strength would have no real adverse effect on him and his kind. And ditto for her magic.

 

How could her magic stand up to that of a God's? She knew that she had been able to take on Glory, but Glory had been tainted and weakened by her human half-Ben. Glory, though powerful and magical, hadn't been in true god form. He was.

 

So she stopped struggling.

 

"That's a good girl," he murmured, letting go of her mouth and moving so he could sit beside her. Willow sidled away as fast as she could, turning around to face him while keeping the scrolls firmly within her reach. She couldn't be sure what he wanted, but she sure as hell couldn't let him get the scrolls.

 

"Oh, I don't want those," he assured her. "No real reason for me to want them. I don't care how powerful you are. You won't be able to replicate the spell that Gabby did. I think it was a once-in-a-million years kind of thing. You'll see when you read further."

 

"What do you want?" Willow croaked, ignoring his other words. He smiled at her, a big toothful smile that she knew was supposed to make her melt. It almost succeeded, but she shook herself quickly.

 

"I'll call for Buffy," she threatened him. Cupid laughed, leaning up against her headboard and stretching out on her bed. He was dressed differently than before. Yeah, still wearing the leather pants, but they looked like a more modern version. And his blue silk shirt was also very nice, but kind of making her think back to Angelus for a second. Though Angelus had been more for red silk than blue.

 

"Buffy is a little busy with her beloved at the moment," Cupid informed her. "Not the way you think, of course. He's a quick thinker that boy of yours. Talked her out of ravishing him with a few choice words. Of course now she thinks that they're going to get married . . ."

 

"Married?" Willow repeated, shooting a concerned looked towards her closed door, thinking of poor Xander just down the hall. "They can't get married! You have to take the spell off!"

 

"Why would I do that?" he asked her, a teasing grin on his face.

 

"Because!" Willow insisted, faltering immediately. "You can't just-It's not right-Buffy is the Slayer! If things turn sour she just might hurt Xander in a rage! You have to remove the spell!"

 

"I'm not convinced," he informed her, wrinkling his nose a bit. "I mean, I do that for you, but what would you do for me?"

 

"For you?" she repeated. "Why should I have to do anything for you? This was all your mistake to begin with!"

 

"That's not going to help your case at this moment," Cupid warned her. "If you're not going to be nice to me, then I won't be persuaded into lifting the spell."

 

Willow couldn't believe her ears. The redhead shut her eyes, taking a deep breath before continuing.

 

"What is it that you want?" she demanded, eyes still closed.

 

"Take a lucky guess," came the reply, his breath tickling her chin. Willow opened her eyes, shocked to find him mere centimetres from her own face. The redhead tried to move back, succeeding only in making her fall flat on her back on top of the scrolls.

 

"Now isn't this an interesting predicament?" Cupid purred, towering over her with a seductive look on his face. "I'm not going to mince words Willow. I have this great desire to get you into my bed. I don't know why, maybe because of all that power you got residing in that sweet little body. Maybe because you helped release me. Or maybe because after being imprisoned for centuries it was very nice to wake up with a cute little redhead on my lap. Whatever the reason, you know my price now."

 

"Are you serious?" she blurted out. "You're crazy! I'll have you know, I'm very recently gay!"

 

"Yeah, I can see that," he shrugged. "I am the God of Love, I know these things. And that's why I can also see that you're not restricted to the female sex. What's this I see about a former werewolf boyfriend?"

 

"Hey, stop that!" Willow frowned up at him. "This is ridiculous! I'm not going to sleep with you just to get the spell off Buffy!"

 

"I didn't say you had to sleep with me," he replied smoothly. "When I get you into my bed, it'll be quite willingly. What I'm asking for is a chance. A plea for courtship."

 

"'Courtship'?" Willow shook her head. "You were imprisoned for too long."

 

"You've got my agreement there," he chuckled, leaning in closer to nuzzle her neck ever so slightly. "So what do you say?"

 

"You want me to go out with you, then you'll take the spell off Buffy?"

 

"Eventually," he agreed.

 

"Eventually isn't good enough," Willow growled. He smiled at her again.

 

"Well that's all your getting," he returned. "Of course, I could go make things easier. Just hit Xander with an arrow and make him love her back . . ."

 

"You can't just force two random people to be in love!" Willow protested.

 

"Why not?" Cupid demanded. "I did before."

 

"This isn't Ancient Greece," Willow shot back.

 

"No it isn't," he conceded. "It's much more fun. Think about what I said will you?"

 

And then he was gone in a little pop of red sparkling dust. Willow blinked, wrinkling her nose as some of that dust landed on her face. She got up, gingerly wiping her face while casting a suspicious look around the room. He was gone.

 

The redhead moved off the scrolls, slowly tying them all up and putting them back on her dresser. Then she reached for her robe, slipping it over her shoulders while also sliding on her slippers.

 

She better tell Giles what just happened. Maybe he'll have an explanation for it. Because this redhead was beyond lost.

 

And it was starting to give her a headache.

 

*****


	7. Chapter 6  Home Sweet Home?

“Good morning everyone!”

 

Faith winced, turning incredulous eyes to the lobby doors of the Hyperion. The brunette Slayer watched suspiciously as her blonde counterpart made her way through the doors, hand-in-hand with a pale looking Xander Harris. Willow followed behind her two friends, her eyes wide and slightly shell-shocked. Giles was the last to enter, looking entirely too pained for someone just coming off a vacation.

 

“Hey there B,” Faith replied slowly, exchanging a look with Gunn next to her. “How was your trip?”

 

“Amazing!” Buffy replied, her tone extremely happy. The blonde barrelled down the steps, dragging a reluctant Xander behind her. The man offered them a harried look, plastering a fake smile across his face when Buffy looked his way.

 

“Xander and I have great news for everyone,” Buffy gushed, fixing the man with an adoring smile. “It’s just the best thing that ever happened. You won’t believe it.”

 

“I’m thinking we would,” Gunn replied slowly, fighting to keep himself from laughing. Faith was having quite a difficult time with that same task, a few titters escaping her every now and then. Xander gave the brunette Slayer a deathly glare, turning around to give Willow a pleading look. The redhead wandered over to the group, her eyes roaming the empty lobby.

 

“Where is everyone?” the redhead asked softly. “We’ve got a lot of stuff to talk about.”

 

“And plan!” Buffy enthused, planting a big kiss on Xander’s cheek. The man struggled to keep a happy smile on his face, looking anywhere but at Faith and Gunn.

 

“But before we do all, don’t you feel a bit tired Buff?” he asked hopefully. The blonde smiled widely at him, throwing her arms around his waist and locking him into a tight embrace.

 

“Isn’t he the sweetest?” she asked Faith, her eyes wet. “Always worried about me. He’s going to make the best husband.”

 

“’Husband‘?” Gunn repeated, his eyes widening. Xander gave a sigh, taking Buffy by the arm and leading her away from Faith and Gunn.

 

“Say, let’s get all these bags upstairs,” he suggested, loading the blonde up with suitcases and bags. “Willow and Giles can fill everyone in on what happened on our trip.”

 

“But shouldn’t we be the ones to tell everyone?” Buffy could be heard protesting as Xander ushered her up the stairs. Faith watched both adults go, breaking out into a fit of laughter once she was sure they were both out of earshot.

 

“Okay, now that is even funnier than I thought it would be!” the brunette crowed, clapping her hands in delight. “She seriously wants to marry him.”

 

“Among other things,” Willow gulped, sending a worried look up the stairs. “Promising to marry her was the only he could keep her from trying to get into his pants.”

 

“Oh, Angel is just going to hate this,” Gunn shook his head.

 

“As will Dawn, I imagine,” Giles offered, walking further into the lobby and giving both members of the AI crew a shaky smile. “Of course, I’m sure that everything will be returned to normal shortly.”

 

“How?” Faith demanded, amusement evident in her voice. Willow scrunched up her nose distastefully, walking over to the lobby couches before falling dramatically onto them.

 

“There’s one method available,” she started, her face going red. “But we’re trying to keep that method regulated to Plan B for now. And Giles really doesn’t approve of it being an option at all.”

 

“What is it?” Gunn asked.

 

“Where is everyone first?” Giles asked, looking around the room. “Where are the girls?”

 

“Most are sleeping,” Faith replied. “Angel is down there, in the training room. He’s been demolishing piece by piece ever since you called and told us about Buffy and Xander’s unique situation. I don’t think he likes it all that much. The girls are probably upstairs or they managed to escape to shop once more. We should probably call them all down and explain a few things.”

 

“Like what?” Willow demanded.

 

“Like Buffy and Xander,” Faith shrugged. “What? We were going to tell them, but it was rather hard to find the right words. Besides, some of the Slayers are like only twelve, I‘m not even sure they‘ve had the birds and the bee chat yet. And let‘s face it; I‘m not the person to explain any of it to them. I‘d probably be a bad influence or something.”

 

“Fred and Lorne are off seeing some contact of his,” Gunn continued for Faith. “Lorne heard about what happened and immediately went off talking to everyone he knows. Apparently our new friends/foes are of a lot of interest to the empathic world. Lorne’s been very unhappy since it happened. He keeps saying something about magicks that are no longer needed.”

 

“Wesley is upstairs somewhere,” Faith finished. “He’s been locked in the library since your phone call came. He’s been reading Greek mythology for about four days straight now. I think he actually wants to meet these gods or whatever. The boy is such a dork.”

 

“Faith, be nice,” Willow admonished from her spot on the couches. The brunette only grinned, sashaying her over to the redhead and seated herself down next to her. Faith reached out and gave Willow a nudge, a decisively devilish look on her face.

 

“So what’s this Plan B that Giles disapproves of?” she needled the other girl. Willow went a deeper shade of red, pulling her backpack closer to her chest.

 

“There was a sort of indecent proposal made,” the witch started off lamely. “Long story short, these gods are crazy and extremely horny. The God of War was looking at Buffy like he wanted to do naughty things to her. And Aphrodite was all over Xander, until Buffy got mad and called her the Goddess of Skank before threatening to kill her if she went near Xander again.”

 

“Oh, the intricacies of a love spell,” Gunn chuckled. Willow cracked a small smile at that.

 

“Actually, that was before the spell was put on her,” the redhead informed him. “I think she was just trying to help Xander. The way that goddess kept on showing up behind him and licking her lips, it was making him very jumpy.”

 

“And what was this thing about the God of War wanting a piece of Buffy?” Faith interrupted. “That’s what I want to hear about.”

 

“There is a great deal of confusion over everything that happened after the gods were awakened,” Giles interrupted. “I’m not even sure where we should begin.”

 

“We could start by figuring out whether or not Buffy is the descendant of this Xena person,” Willow suggested, straightening at the look of confusion of Faith’s face. “The thing that could wake these guys up was if this chakram thingy was rejoined by the descendant of some lady named Xena. Xander and Buffy were messing around in the tomb we landed and they found the pieces of the chakram thingy and put it back together. Then there was this blue light and rumbling and then poof! Greek gods coming out of every corner. The God of War, Ares, thinks Buffy is the descendant of Xena, and then he started acting all lusty.”

 

“Um, did anyone point out to him that Xander might be the descendant of this Xena person?” Gunn asked, laughter in his voice.

 

“Xander has enough to worry about right now,” Giles interjected. “Let’s not do or say anything that might garner him more attention from these deities. I’m not sure who this Xena woman was, but she was obviously someone of great importance to these gods. And we have yet to figure out whether that is a good or bad thing.”

 

“Can I suggest bad thing?” Faith giggled. “I mean, since these gods showed up in your lives, a lot of crap has happened. Namely the soon-to-be blessed union of Xander and B.”

 

“And we still haven’t gotten to the point of this indecent proposal,” Gunn reminded Willow.

 

“Why bother?” Giles snapped. “The whole thing is preposterous and it is not going to happen. Ever.”

 

“Giles is just mad because he thinks the God of Love has nefarious intentions when it comes to me,” Willow supplied for her friends.

 

“He does have nefarious intentions!” Giles insisted. “Did he, or did he not tell you that he wanted you in his bed?”

 

“Really?” Faith’s eyes lit up. “Is he hot? Because if he is, I say you do it. Or do him, whatever.”

 

“Faith, not now,” Willow shook her head, biting her lip as she watched Giles turn an interesting shade of purple. “Besides, he didn’t say that I have to sleep with him in order to get him to take the spell off Buffy and Xander. I think he wants me to go on a date with him. He seems to think that he could work the whole bed issue based solely on his charms.”

 

“Either way, it is not an option,” Giles insisted firmly. “I do not know what their motivation is, but until we find out more about them, no unnecessary contact with any of them.”

 

“Giles, they can transport themselves anywhere,” Willow reminded him. “If they wanted to, they could visit us like ten times a day without us being able to stop them. I found that out the hard way.”

 

“Do tell,” Faith pressed, a mischievous smile on her face.

 

“Anyway,” Willow carried on, ignoring the brunette for the time being. “The only thing we can do now is to keep on researching these scrolls. I’m telling you the answers are in here somewhere Giles.”

 

“But the magic in them,” the older man shook his head. “It might be too strong to tamper with. From what you told me of your first experience with them, I don’t think using them would be very wise.”

 

“And by that you mean?” Gunn prompted both of them.

 

“Well, the scrolls are practically drenched with magic,” Willow explained. “I tried to use a translating spell on them, but something weird happened. I basically got transported into the consciousness of the writer. I could see everything she saw, heard everything she thought, and felt everything she felt. It was pretty amazing.”

 

“And fairly dangerous,” Giles interrupted. “Until we know more of them, I do not want you performing that spell again. Are we clear Willow?”

 

The redhead pouted but relented under the harsh glare of her mentor.

 

“Anything you say Giles.”

 

*****

 

“Buffy! Come on! Don’t touch that! Please-”

 

Buffy giggled, biting her lip as she all but pounced on Xander. The man made several protesting noises but could do nothing else against her Slayer strength. Too quickly Xander found himself lying on his back, a mattress at his back and Buffy straddling his front.

 

“Xander, don’t be such a prude,” the blonde admonished him. “I know you said you wanted to wait for that, but still, it’s not like we can’t do other fun things until then.”

 

“’Fun things’?” Xander paled significantly and he tried to crawl out from underneath the determined Slayer. “Listen Buffy, I don’t think this is the time or place for fun-”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Buffy cut him off, following the man as he crawled further up the bed, plopping down heavily on his stomach and effectively pinning him in place with her body. “This is the first time we’ve truly been alone since we got on that damn plane. I say this is the perfect time, and just the right place for some fun.”

 

“But Buffy-”

 

Buffy cut him off by plastering her lips across his. Xander made some protesting noises, finding himself incapable of throwing the woman clear. His hands clawed at the mattress, a shriek escaping his lips when Buffy abandoned his mouth and began to explore other areas of his body.

 

“Buffy, you really have to stop this!” he pleaded, interrupting when the Slayer once more drew him in for a kiss. Xander felt her hands drifting all over his body and caught them with his own to stop their downward travel. Buffy grinned against his mouth, actually purring before she began to wrench her hands from his grip.

 

“Hey, are you guys-”

 

The words were followed by a loud, horrified scream. Buffy pulled back from Xander, shooting into an upright position and looking towards the open doorway. Xander struggled to get out from under Buffy, craning his neck in order to see who had stumbled upon them and thereby saved him from being mauled by his best friend.

 

Dawn stood in the doorway of her sister’s room, her mouth hanging open. She looked between her older sister and the red-faced Xander on the bed, her eyes wide with disbelief.

 

“Buffy!” the younger girl shrieked. “What are you doing?”

 

The older blonde looked sympathetically at her younger sister, sending Xander a pleased look.

 

“Well, no point in hiding it,” Buffy shrugged, turning back to her sister with a bright grin. “Dawn honey, I have something very important to tell you. Xander and I, we’re getting married!”

 

Dawn looked like a truck had hit her. Her eyes went from Buffy’s excited face to Xander’s embarrassed one several times before she did the only thing she thought would suffice given the circumstances.

 

She fainted.

 

*****


	8. Chapter 7  I Have A Headache

"Buffy, no!"

 

The blonde Slayer pouted, looking at Xander with sad blue eyes.

 

"But-"

 

"NO!" Xander cut her off, giving the blonde his sternest look. He scrambled off the bed and made his way over to the unconscious Dawn, scooping the girl up in his arms and laying her down gently on the bed.

 

"Your sister just fainted," he scolded Buffy. "This is not the time for 'fun stuff'!"

 

Buffy looked severely put out for a minute before her features softened as she looked down at her younger sister. Nibbling on her lip, the blonde scooted closed to the unconscious girl and smoothed some hair away from her face.

 

"Dawn," she called softly, giving the girl's shoulder a gentle shake. "Dawn sweetie, open your eyes."

 

She got a low mumble in response. Xander watched the young girl worriedly for a second, turning around when he heard a chorus of shouts and the sounds of stampeding feet. Faith, Giles, Gunn, and Willow came bursting onto the scene, the brunette Slayer even armed with a sword.

 

"What happened?" Faith barked, dark eyes searching the room. "We heard screaming. What's going on?"

 

"Well . . ." Xander trailed off, looking helplessly at the groggy Dawn. "Dawnie just got a little shock."

 

"Little shock!" the girl repeated, her voice weak but her words sharp. The younger Summers yanked her arm away from Buffy, glaring harshly at her sister and then at Xander. "What was all that crap about getting married? That was not funny!"

 

"We weren't joking honey," Buffy insisted gently. "Xander and I-"

 

"There is no Xander and you!" Dawn barked, jumping off the bed and stumbling away from her older sister. "There can't be. There wasn't any before you guys went to that tomb thingy with Giles-and by the way, still not happy at being left behind. What a minute-are you under a love spell? This looks like a love spell."

 

"Sweetie, there's no love spell," Buffy chuckled softly. Xander grimaced, looking at Dawn over Buffy's head and nodding erratically in the affirmative. He stilled when Buffy turned to shoot him a smile, giving the blonde a weak grin.

 

"Right?" Buffy prompted him. Xander gulped, sending an uneasy look Giles way. The older man just nodded, motioning for Xander to play along. Best not to aggravate Buffy, not in her current state. Something really bad might happen as a result.

 

"Right," Xander nodded. Dawn narrowed her eyes, glaring sharply at Xander. She had caught his subtle hint, and though she was still kind of confused, she was willing to go with the flow. Scooby Rule Number One: humour all those under love spells.

 

"Um, so, this is for real?" Dawn managed to spit out. Buffy's smile only got wider and she jumped off the bed to embrace her sister.

 

"It's totally for real!" the blonde squealed. "Think about it Dawnie, we're going to be a family. A real family-isn't that wonderful?"

 

"Sounds super," Dawn stuttered, giving Xander a pained look over her sister's shoulder. The man just shrugged feebly, sitting down on the bed and hanging his head in frustration. Dawn looked away from him, catching the eye of Giles who also had nothing to add. The Watcher looked as pained as Xander, Faith was laughing, Gunn was trying not to laugh, Willow looked utterly helpless, and the guy next to her was just grinning like mad.

 

Wait a minute.

 

"Who the hell are you?" Dawn demanded, pushing away from her sister and locking eyes with the stranger. Everyone started at her declaration, following her pointing finger to the man next to Willow. The redhead turned her head, giving a shocked shriek when she saw him there. Willow jumped and tried to put much distance between herself and this man, who merely caught her by the wrist and pulled her closer while backing out of the room. Faith and Gunn followed, Buffy running up to join them. Dawn, Giles and Xander were not far behind, the younger Summers girl beyond lost.

 

"What the hell are you doing here?" the blonde demanded as she pushed her way forward. The man stopped by the foot of the stairs, ignoring the struggling witch in his arms as he apppeared to give her question thought.

 

"Well, I came for answer," the man chuckled. Dawn took time to take in his appearance, the golden blonde hair and dancing blue eyes, along with the tight black leather pants and dark blue silk shirt. She had never seen this man before in her life, but apparently Willow and Buffy had.

 

"Listen you little miscreant, I will not have you repeatedly bursting into our lives in this manner. Let her go."

 

And it looked like Giles knew him too.

 

"And how would you attempt to stop me?" the man asked, shooting them all a wide grin. Dawn gave a startled shout when the man and Willow disappeared in a shower of pink dust, joining the others as they crowded around the stairs.

 

"Where'd they go?" Faith demanded.

 

"Down here!"

 

And sure enough, there he was. He was lounging on one of the lobby chairs, Willow sitting unhappily on his lap. Dawn followed the others as they flew down the stairs, protesting a bit when Xander shoved her a safe distance behind as Faith and Buffy confronted the man.

 

"What is with you gods?" Buffy demanded. "Don't you have anything better to do than bother my best friend?"

 

"Gods?" Dawn repeated, nudging Gunn with her elbow. "Gods?"

 

"Long story," Gunn whispered to her. "They were in the tomb, Buffy and the others went into the tomb, and then all these gods came bursting out. I think it was Xander's fault."

 

"Was not!" Xander hissed. "Could have been Buffy's. We're working on that."

 

"He's a god?" Dawn squeaked.

 

"God of Love," the man shouted to her. "Cupid, at your service. My, aren't you a cute little thing?"

 

"Hey!" Buffy looked affronted as she stepped forward. "No oogling my sister. And let go of Willow!"

 

"As soon as she gives me my answer," Cupid replied, looking at Willow.

 

"Answer to what?" Buffy grumbled. Faith snickered, resting her sword against her side.

 

"I know what," the brunette Slayer chuckled, sending Willow a teasing look. "Well Red, what's the answer?"

 

Willow looked like she could kill Faith at any moment. Giles frowned deeply at the giddy Slayer, stepping past her and glaring at the idle god playing with Willow's hair. The redhead noticed this, quickly slapping his hands to no avail.

 

"The answer is no," Giles spat out. Cupid arched an eyebrow.

 

"I don't recall asking you," he grinned, tapping Willow on the nose playfully. "I remember asking this lovely vixen."

 

Willow looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She looked to her friends for help, noticing with resignation that Buffy was once again at Xander's side, trying to grab at his butt while appearing focused on the issue at hand. Xander was trying not to yelp and sidle away from the persistent blonde. Faith was still laughing, Giles was frowning, Gunn looked angry, and Dawn was scratching her head in confusion.

 

No help there.

 

"I, uh-"

 

"What the hell is going on here?"

 

Willow let out a sigh of relief, turning to grin widely at the newly appeared Angel. The vampire stood at the entrance of his office, still in his workout clothes and mug of blood in his hands. He looked around the lobby, putting his mug on the counter and moving forward hesitantly.

 

"How many people live here?" Cupid asked with some irritation in his voice. Angel sent a glare his way, stomping over to the couches and proceeding to yank Willow up and out of the god's embrace. Cupid let her go, pursing his lips thoughtfully as he gave Angel a look over.

 

"A vampire," he proclaimed with a chuckle, sending Willow a wink. "Interesting array of friends you have dear heart."

 

"Who is this?" Angel demanded of Willow.

 

"He's the God of Loove," Faith replied, drawing out the 'o' with a snort of laughter. Angel frowned at her, looking at the man seated in his lobby and then looking back at Faith.

 

"Huh?"

 

"Right there with you," Dawn sighed, rubbing at her temples. "I think they found more fun in that tomb thingy than Giles let on. And I think he's the one that put the love whammie on Buffy."

 

"Sorry, did someone say my name?" Buffy chirped, distracted for a second from attempting to steal a few kisses from Xander. Cupid let out a mischievous chuckle, one that had Angel growling.

 

"So, my answer?" the god asked again. Willow opened her mouth, but no words came out. The redhead deflated, closing her eyes and leaning against Angel in defeat.

 

"I don't know," she muttered weakly.

 

"Well, then I'll give you some more time to think it over," Cupid shrugged. "But not too long, all right? I may have forever, but I've always been a little impatient. Must get it from my Dad."

 

Cupid waggled his fingers in a farewell before disappearing with a pop and more pink dust. Gunn snorted in digust.

 

"Pink dust? What does he think he is? Some blasted fairy?"

 

"Can someone just explain what that was?" Angel asked. Willow shook her head, locking eyes with Giles.

 

"Can we get back to the scrolls now? Please?"

 

Giles looked baffled, pinching the bridge of his nose as he squeezed his eyes shut. A shout of alarm from Xander brought everyone's attention back to Buffy, finding the blonde had jumped the object of her affections and was currently necking with the flailing carpenter. Faith was rolling on the floor at this point, tears streaming out of the corner of her eyes as she laughed. Dawn was shaking her head and Gunn was watching Angel carefully. The vampire looked floored, sinking into one of the lobby couches and pulling Willow with him. The redhead shot Giles a pleading look and finally the man relented.

 

"All right. Get them out."

 

*****


	9. Chapter 8  And Then It Got Weird

It was nice to be home again, though the pain of losing her friend was still with her, making the experience more bittersweet than anything else. Gabrielle wandered down the dock, feeling the warmth of the sun on her shoulders. She appeared to be focus only on what was straight ahead of her, but her ears were open to everything. She picked up bits and pieces of conversation as she walked, hoping against hope that she wouldn't hear anything too discouraging.

 

It was futile, of course. Greece seemed to be in turmoil once more and she had a pretty good idea why.

 

She made her way to the stables where they had left Argo all those months ago. She wondered briefly if the stable master had kept to his word and not just sold the horse off after a few weeks. Of course, considering that this was no ordinary horse, Gabrielle welcomed the man to try his little tricks. Argo listened to all of three people in this world, and one of them was now dead while another made her way to collect the animal. Eve was the only other person able to exert some control over the wild horse and thoughts of Xena's daughter only served to remind Gabrielle of the long road she had in front of her.

 

Shaking her head, she entered the stable, finding the old stable master had kept to his word. There were a few pleasantries exchanged, a few polite questions by the man on her trip, and a few mumbled responses before she was able to lead Argo out of the building.

 

"It's just you and me for a little while girl," Gabrielle whispered to the horse, the urn suddenly feeling very heavy to the blonde warrior. "We've got to get to Eve and the others. There's a lot of work to be done."

 

The horse merely shook her head and gave a slighty neigh in reply. Gabrielle patted Argo's neck in a soothing manner until she had managed to lead the horse from the harbour, stopping only to gather some food for her and her horse before moving out of city limits. Once back on the road, she mounted the steed, strapping her bag and Xena's urn securely behind her before she prompted the horse to move.

 

They started off slow, Argo more than content to just walk across the trail in front of her. But after a while Gabrielle began to feel anxious, digging her heels into Argo's sides until the horse complied and began to move faster. They travelled for most of the day in that fashion, stopping twice to take food and water. Gabrielle kept her guard up at all times, knowing from experience that the roads of Greece were no safer than those in Japa. There could be any number of creatures lurking out there. Robbers, murderers, cutthroat thieves-she had dealt with them all before and she was more than prepared to deal with them now. She had her weapons after all, and Xena's sword strapped to her back. This Amazon was ready to deal with any confrontation that came her way.

 

Or so she thought.

 

The odd feeling began sometime before the sun began to sink below the horizon. Gabrielle stopped Argo and immediately sought a campsite, trying to shrug off the strange feeling assailing her senses. A fire had been made and Argo's burden unbound. She enjoyed a less than tasteful dinner of bread and cheese with a bit of water before she took out her bedroll and began to prepare for sleep.

 

She was nearly asleep when he came, making no noise as he laid himself next to her body, a warm hand going out to trace patterns on her arm. She jerked awake, grabbing at the hand on her arm while also reaching for the dagger she kept under her pillow. Hoarse laughter greeted her and Gabrielle squinted in the poor light before she realized who her visitor was.

 

"Ares, what are you doing-"

 

"Can't old friends drop by for a chat?" he interrupted before she could finish. "Come on Gabrielle, I've missed you-"

 

"Liar," was her simple reply. His gaze hardened and suddenly he had her tightly by the arms.

 

"Don't call me that," he growled at her. "You let her die."

 

"No, but I did let her stay dead," she corrected. "Though that was only at her request. You know this already, why are you even bothering?"

 

"Because I feel like it," he snapped. "I'm a god dear heart, I'm allowed to do as I please."

 

"All actions have consequences," she replied evenly. "I know you're upset, but that doesn't mean you should carry on like you have. I heard the things said at the harbour. You're sinking this country into chaos and war-there won't be anything left if you carry on this way."

 

"Maybe that's the way I like it," he spat back at her. "What are you going to do about it anyway? Xena's not here anymore little Gabrielle, who's going to stop me? You? You're walking around half-blind without her. No, there isn't anything you could do to stop me-"

 

"Don't think I won't try," she interjected firmly.

 

"You're welcome to try," he grinned. "But just so you know, I don't plan on losing anytime soon Gabrielle. So you give it your best shot, and once you've failed, maybe I'll be nice enough to let you live in my world."

 

"Ares . . ." she began warningly. The God of War merely smirked at her before giving her a small wave as a goodbye.

 

"See you around Gabby dear," he muttered before disappearing in a blue light. Gabrielle sighed at his departure, laying back down and looking up at the stars.

 

*You realize that you have to stop him right?*

 

"I figured as much," she sighed, closing her eyes and listening to the sweet lull of Xena's voice. "I don't suppose you have any suggestions?"

 

There was silence before she heard a quick reply.

 

*Find Aphrodite.*

 

"Why?" she asked. There was no answer and Gabrielle opened her eyes to shoot the sky an annoyed look. Find Aphrodite, she could do that. But then what?

 

She received no answer.

 

~*~

 

"Willow! She's doing it again!"

 

Willow gave a shocked gasp as she was ripped from the world of the scrolls back to present times. The magic of the scrolls had left her tingling on the inside and outside, goosebumps visible on her arms as she looked away from the paper and saw Xander once again trying to fight off the lovesick Buffy.

 

"Buffy! Not here! Willow's in here!"

 

"She won't mind," Buffy giggled, turning to her other best friend. "Right Willow?"

 

"Uh-" the witch had no reply for that and Buffy apparently didn't feel the need to wait for one. She was back on Xander, knocking the man to the floor of Willow's room and attacking him with her lips once more. Willow fought hard not to laugh or vomit at the sight before her. Recovering her wits just a bit, the witch mumbled a few phrases under her breath and seconds later Buffy was unconscious and slumped against Xander once more.

 

"Those spells are wearing off faster and faster," Willow mused as Xander scrambled out from underneath Buffy and gave his friend a glare.

 

"Well, find something a little more potent then," he snapped. "She's accosting me every chance she gets. I can't fight off the advances of a Slayer, nor can I hide from her. She's got some sort of sixth sense when it comes to tracking me down. This whole thing is getting out of hand! You need to fix this."

 

"Only Cupid can fix it," Willow reminded him, rolling up the scrolls and placing them back in the chest Giles had procured for them. "And unless you want to tell Cupid 'yes'-"

 

"No!" Xander cut her off quickly. "No, no, no, no, no, no! You're not going to be left alone with any of those whacked out deities. Especially not the one with an Olympic-sized crush on you."

 

"Well then you're just going to have to deal," Willow told him. "Now come on. Help me get her on the bed and then we've got to go get Giles. I've got a lot of stuff to tell him."

 

"The scrolls tell you what to do yet?" Xander asked as he helped Willow drag Buffy onto the bed and under the sheets. "Or possibly give you something to lord over the God of Love so he'll put Buffy back to normal?"

 

"Not quite," she answered, leading Xander out of the room. "But we're definitely getting closer. This Gabrielle person is turning out to be the key to it all."

 

Xander nodded and followed before a frown crossed his features. "Who's Gabrielle?"

 

"Xena's friend," Willow replied shortly. "And she somehow did all of this, though I'm thinking that Aphrodite helped."

 

"The Goddess of Skank helped some girl lock her away for God knows how many years?"

 

"Seems like it," Willow affirmed. Xander just made a face and shook his head.

 

"These gods are loonier than Glory."

 

~*~


	10. Chapter 9  Doesn't Anyone Stay Dead Anymore?

Oh where to start?

 

He glowered down at the map on the table before him, finger tracing the new borders and names scattered across the globe. The world had definitely changed since his time and seemed to have become even more complicated than before. Rome had all but disappeared, confined to nothing more than a city in this country called Italy. Greece was still there, thankfully, but even his native seemed smaller than before. It seems all the empires he had known had fallen into ruins. The Persian Empire, the Egyptian Empire, the Roman Empire-they were all gone. Persia did not even manage to remain as a country, but rather had been partitioned between several other nations. Only China and India remained relatively close to what they had been in the beginning. It was all so different now.

 

But war had carried on without him. He felt pleased and, oddly enough, bitter at the same time. His presence had not been missed. His temples were gone, his followers long scattered to the winds. He was nothing more than a myth nowadays, people didn't believe in him anymore. Others had risen to take his place, but his situation seemed to be the case for all the deities of old. The gods of his time had faded out. Most people only believed in one god, the God, the one those pesky Israelites had followed so devoutly. And speaking of the Israelites . . .

 

His gaze fell on what the world referred to as the Middle East, noting with some bit of envy that the humans had managed to create quite the bloodshed without his guidance. He was starting to feel a bit undated. This new world, these new weapons-it would take some time before he would become accustomed to them. But then again, he was a god. He had all the time in the world.

 

"Where to start?" he murmured to himself, reclining back his large chair. He had set up shop in a tiny little Italian villa that the previous owners had promptly handed over to him after some . . .encouragement. He would say one thing about this new day and age, the luxuries of this world surpassed even the ones of his time. Though he had been gone a long time, he was really starting to get a good feeling about this world. It would take some time, but he'd carve out his place in it once more. And then the fun would really begin.

 

But right now he had to deal with another little problem: Xena's descendent. His heart, and other parts of his anatomy, desperately wanted the small, but strong, blonde girl from the tomb to be the one. But there was a chance that the foolish looking boy standing next to her was the one he was looking for. He needed to find out which one it was, especially considering the fact that they possessed the chakram. He couldn't be sure that the weapon was still maintained the power to kill a god but he wasn't willing to take the risk. He wanted that weapon and the person meant to wield it under his thumb. Maybe he should send Discord in to scope out the situation, provided that he could track her down. Silly little goddess had taken off not too long after their release, intent on causing mayhem wherever she could. But sooner or later she would come back to him. She always did.

 

Cupid and Aphrodite were two completely different stories. Cupid was stupidly testing the patience of the redheaded witch and the others, a bad idea considering they had the chakram. And he still refused to take the spell off the blonde girl, which was something that Ares was still fuming over. Dealing with humans was hard enough, humans under the influence of Cupid's arrow was damn near impossible. It was going to be real obstacle once he figured out which one of two was Xena's heir. And no matter how many times he asked, ordered, threatened, and bargained, his foolish son would not lift the spell.

 

Aphrodite was being less than helpful as usual. She was far too busy 'updating' her look to even care about what was going on with Cupid. He suspected she had gone off in the search of naive young boys to lure to her bed, which wasn't that much of a surprise, but he did wish that she backed him up on things pertaining to their son. But it would be a cold day in Tartarus before Aphrodite laid down the law for her child. Honestly, the only reason the boy had so much cheek was because of the way she spoiled him.

 

"Maybe I'll start in Canada," he mused to himself. "That country sure could use a stand to have a few more wars."

 

"Maybe you shouldn't start at all."

 

He paused when he heard the voice, giving a frustrated growl when he placed it. He looked over his shoulder and saw her standing there, dressed all in white and bathed in light. He merely rolled his eyes at her appearance, turning back to his map before replying.

 

"Doesn't anyone stay dead anymore?" he demanded, rolling up his papers and stomping over to his desk. He pulled open the top drawer and shoved everything inside before slamming it shut once more. "This never happened when Hades was still in charge of the afterlife."

 

Her eyes watched his movements carefully, the tiny smile on her lips never wavering. "I'm still dead Ares, but you already know that," she murmured, taking a few cautious steps towards the center of the room and glancing around her in obvious interest. "Nice place."

 

"Why are you here?" he snapped, not even acknowledging her other statement. "Why aren't you wherever the hell you went after you died?"

 

"I think that would be obvious," she answered serenely. "I've come to see you-"

 

"Well, you've got some nerve considering what you did-"

 

"The Twilight has come and gone," she interrupted him quietly, shaking her head at his furious expression. "You know this Ares. The time of the Greek gods placed long ago. Mortals no longer believe in you."

 

"I'll remedy that problem," he retorted snidely.

 

She sighed again, looking at him with pity in her eyes. "The Twilight cannot be undone Ares. You shouldn't-"

 

"Shouldn't what?" he cut her off with a snarl. "Shouldn't do what comes naturally? I'm the God of War! There is no one who can stop me from doing what I want. Not you, not these pitiful, faithless mortals-no one."

 

"It's thinking that like that got you imprisoned," she warned him lightly.

 

"No, you played me, that's what got me imprisoned," he snapped. "And in case you haven't noticed dear Gabby, there isn't anyone around to imprison me again. I'm free, I'm powerful, and I'll do whatever I damn well please."

 

"Still so stubborn," the spirit of Gabrielle sighed forlornly, her bright blue eyes filled with such pity that he could not bear to look at her.

 

"Leave me be," he ordered her, turning his back to her. "Go back to your little afterlife and never come here again."

 

There was silence and for a moment he thought she had listened to him and departed, but then he heard her speak again. "Xena isn't the only one whose descendants walk the earth."

 

An alarm went off in his brain and he spun around to face her. But she was gone, slowly fading out of his vision, that little smile still on her face as she waved to him.

 

"NO!" he shouted angrily. "You can't just say that and leave! Gabrielle! Come back!"

 

She didn't listen to him; she never listened to him. With a loud, frustrated roar, Ares let loose a lightning bolt. The bolt crashed into the south wall of his study, smashing a hole in it before disappearing into the air outside. His chest heaved as he took unnecessary deep breaths, his anger bubbling up beneath the surface. How dare she come here and to lecture him? How dare she leave after dropping that surprise?

 

He grabbed his sword from its resting place on the wall behind his desk, strapping it to his waist before orbing himself in the direction of Japan. It was time he collected his little sister. They had a lot of work to do.

 

~*~


	11. Chapter 10  Love Springs Eternal

"I've been reading Greek mythology for the past three weeks straight. I can't find anything about this Xena woman. If she's the key to this mess, then we're in a tough spot because she obviously wasn't famous enough to warrant her own mythology."

 

Willow wrinkled her nose as Wesley discussed his findings with Giles. She had to agree with the younger ex-Watcher that the situation looked pretty bleak. They had been throwing themselves into research for days now, and not one iota of information had been found on Xena or her friend Gabrielle. In fact, other than the gods that were well known, all the other names Willow had uncovered in her sessions with the scrolls had come to naught. It wasn't to suggest that they hadn't existed, because Willow knew for certain that they did. But the likelihood on getting more information on them through the traditional means wasn't going to pan out.

 

"Maybe we're approaching this wrong," Giles suggested tiredly. "We're focusing our search on the Greek mythology, but look at the names we've gotten from these gods. Cupid is a Roman name, maybe we should broaden our focus."

 

"And maybe move away from mythology while we're at it," Angel added. "This Gabrielle woman, she worked some sort of major spell to trap these things, right? There has to someone else with some power who took notice of it. Any nearby demon would have felt the effects of such a spell. Maybe some demon lore is in order."

 

"Angel could be onto something with that," Fred agreed absently. "Some demon clans keep extensive histories and records of events. We find one like that close to Greece, it could help a lot."

 

"In the meantime, I think that Willow should have another go with the scrolls," Wesley said with a nod towards the witch. "Any information she can get from this Gabrielle would be immensely helpful."

 

"Not so helpful right now," Willow confessed. "I've been going through them, and Gabrielle sure is detailed in her writing. She writes down everything, including all the stuff about her travelling. I'm on about day eight of her journey, and she still hasn't found Aphrodite."

 

"Why again is she looking for Aphrodite again?" Angel asked.

 

"Because Xena told her to," Willow replied.

 

"Right, her dead friend told her to," Fred frowned a bit. "Am I the only one who kind of questions this girl's reliability?"

 

"I admit that it's not exactly the most normal thing to hear, even for us," Willow shrugged. "But the scrolls aren't exactly relating her own words. I mean, she wrote the words, but when I'm reading them, I'm in her head and I see how things were for her. And when she hears Xena's voice, I hear it too, and I know that it's not a figment of Gabrielle's imagination. Unfortunately, I only get to see what she saw when she was writing the scrolls. I can't exactly tour her mind freely and find what I'm looking for, though that would be a lot more useful."

 

"Think this Virgil person is the Virgil?" Wesley asked suddenly. "Because that would be interesting."

 

"And helpful," Giles whispered to himself. Willow frowned at her mentor, watching as his face turned thoughtful. She tilted her head and assessed the man.

 

"Giles? What's up?"

 

"The Virgil, the poet, he wrote more than the poems that everyone knows about," Giles told them. "The Council had some of his earlier works in its library, which is now nothing more than rubble strewn about the streets of London. But I wonder if Wesley's resources at Wolfram and Hart would have something about these earlier works."

 

"It certainly can't hurt to look," Wesley assented as he rose from the table. "I'll go call my department and get them started on looking for these things."

 

"I'm coming with," Angel said as he got up from the table.

 

"And I'm off to the scrolls again," Willow announced as she pushed her chair away from the table. "Maybe I'll go see how Buffy's doing."

 

"We're going to need a better solution for that particular problem," Fred reminded them. "We haven't found anything that could counteract the arrow's spell, and since Cupid seems quite content to leave them be, we're going to need figure something out. The sleeping spells are wearing off faster and faster, and sooner or later, she's bound to notice that we keep giving her the magical whammie to keep her from Xander. It's all downhill from there."

 

"Dawn suggested that she could keep Buffy busy by planning the wedding," Giles said with a grimace. "While I don't think that it's such a good idea to encourage Buffy right now, if it gets her mind off of attacking Xander, it might be worth it."

 

"Well then," Wesley said. "Let's get to it."

 

And all five went about their business.

 

~*~

 

Aphrodite stood in front of a full-scale mirror, eyeing her reflection critically. While she still wasn't that sure about the new modes of fashion that was so popular in this new age, she figured that she would have to adjust because there simply wasn't much else to do. It's not like she could force the fashion back to what it had been the last time she had been walking the earth, though she was tempted to try. But she figured restraint was probably the best option right now. Hadn't Gabby cited the gods' lack of impulse control as a primary reason for the imprisonment?

 

The blonde goddess felt her mood sour immediately upon thought upon her mortal friend. Zeus, how she missed Gabby! It was so weird to be here and not have the girl to chat with. And Aphrodite couldn't help but feel a little guilty that she was free now. She had agreed with Gabby all those years ago, so what had changed? The opportunity for chaos had increased dramatically now that her brother was out and about. Shouldn't she be doing something to rein him in? But then again, when had she ever been any good at controlling Ares? If she had any luck with that, Gabby might now have had to resort to the measures that she did.

 

The goddess sighed and turned away from the mirror. Her eyes roamed the little chateau in France that she had commandeered little over a week ago. It was a quaint little establishment, but lavish enough to keep this goddess happy. It wasn't quite as wonderful as her temples as been way back when, but it would certainly do for now.

 

She had to decide what to do, though she wasn't sure what her options were. Stopping Ares was pretty high on her list of things she should do, but her brother had been oddly silent since his release. She had been watching the world carefully, and there had been no recent outbreak of war that she could blame on the god of War. She had been entertaining thoughts of trying to trap all her family members up again, but she knew that she couldn't do that on her own. Gabby had done most of the work before, she had only provided the magical energy. Gabby had found the spell, she had gotten the ceremony together, and she had managed to ensnare three immortals before they knew what hit them.

 

Of course, the solution to that problem might be painfully obvious. Those mortals that had been present during their release, one of them had been Xena's descendant. And they now held the chakram of power, which meant they were in a better bargaining position than they knew. After all, if that thing still had its kick, which she didn't doubt for a second, its threat would be enough to bring Discord and Cupid reluctantly to order. However, it was with Ares that she ran into another possible roadblock.

 

She just wasn't sure what her brother's motivations were anymore. If he was threatened with the chakram, would he even care? He had been so out of control the last time that the chakram's threat sway him at all. Gabby had to be more creative in getting Ares in line, but she had managed that. Aphrodite was pretty sure that he wasn't about to fall for that trick again, so that left her with a huge roadblock. How was she supposed to get Ares under control? Threats wouldn't work, his magic was strong enough to repel hers, and Ares simply wouldn't see reason on this matter. Their time was over. They should have gracefully melted away into the background, but when he wouldn't, Gabby had to resort to drastic measures.

 

"Oh Gabby," the goddess whispered sadly to herself. "I wished that you were here. You would know what to do."

 

"Why, in the name of Zeus, do you insist on whining about that wretch of a girl?"

 

Aphrodite immediately wiped the sad look from her face and turned to face her brother with anger. "Ares," she scowled at him. "I don't remember inviting you in here."

 

Her brother smirked at her from his spot on her couch. "And here I thought we had gotten so close," he said mockingly. "But alas, it seems that you yearn only for the companionship of those long lost."

 

"Cut the crap," she snapped at him. "What do you want?"

 

"Maybe I want revenge on the sister who betrayed me," he growled at her.

 

"Please," Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Like you could even manage it. Besides, I know you. You want something from me, otherwise you'd just have one of your mortal armies beseige my home if revenge was really on your mind. So what is it?"

 

"Fine, I want to go see those mortals that released us."

 

"You know, that might not be the best idea-"

 

"Don't care," he cut her off. "I want those scrolls and Xena's descendant in my hands. There's no way I'm letting history repeat itself. I won't allow myself to be trapped ever again."

 

"Ares, you cannot undo the Twilight-"

 

"Enough of this Twilight nonsense!" he roared in sudden anger. "I don't care about it! I'm a god, and I won't be contained! Now are you coming or not?"

 

Aphrodite looked at her brother in apprehension. "Ares, she died so long ago. Why can't you just let it go, already? I thought that with Gabby you might have been able to move-"

 

"Are you coming or not?" he interrupted her again, this time with more malice in his voice. Aphrodite knew that he was quickly approaching the end of his patience. And while the idea of travelling with her brother wasn't that appealing, if he was going to confront those mortals over the scrolls she felt that she better tag along. Gabby wasn't here to keep Ares in line anymore; it was all up to her now.

 

"Fine, let's go."

 

~*~


End file.
